Kabbalistic Shabbat Customs

Kabbalistic tradition greatly emphasizes Shabbat observance. Whether the mystical significance of the 39 prohibited acts of work, meditations on the Shabbat prayers and Kiddush, or candlelighting, Jewish mysticism teaches volumes on the particulars, as well as the general mindset, which can give one access to the spiritual treasure of this most holy of days.

In Jewish mysticism, the weekday cycle is a microcosm of the plan for world history. In the same way that there is a period of exile preparing the way for world Redemption, so too are the weekdays meant for working, readying ourselves for Shabbat, the "Day of Rest". It is no wonder then, that many unique Shabbat customs were introduced or revived by the Safed Kabbalists of the early and mid-16^th century, reflecting their understanding that the light of the age of Redemption had already begun to shine, and that it is for us to prime ourselves and tap into the spiritual radiance of the Redemption, the great Shabbat.

In the worldview of the Kabbalah, Shabbat is more than just a day of rest. It is a gateway for reaching expanded consciousness. By studying the Kabbalistic understanding of the cycle of the weekdays and their prayers, one sees that on Shabbat the entire world becomes spiritually elevated. Engaged in the meditations and the Kabbalistic customs of Shabbat, a person’s ability to rectify their own individual soul, as well as that of all Creation, is greatly enhanced.

Below are a few selected Shabbat customs unique to the Kabbalistic tradition.

Immersion in the ritual bath (mikveh) on Shabbat eve:

While the laws of ritual immersion for married women are clearly delineated by Jewish law, traditionally, many Jewish men, as well, go to a kosher mikveh or spring on the afternoon before Shabbat. Similar to a married women going to the mikveh according to her monthly cycle in preparation for marital relations, so too do Jewish men sanctify themselves by immersion in anticipation of the spiritual union offered by Shabbat. In the giver-receiver/male-female dynamic, we, in the finite created world, play the role of receiver in relation to the Divine, Who bestows blessing and goodness. In preparation for this gift, we cleanse ourselves spiritually to effect the highest quality of union.

The Holy Ari expressly states that one should dunk at least three times: the first to wash away any physical impurities (particularly of sexual character); the second a more spiritual cleansing, intending to leave behind the spiritual nature of the workday week; and the third immersion to accept upon oneself the holy light of Shabbat eve, which begins to "descend" at the fifth hour of the day (i.e. 11:00 am). Because the quality of Shabbat day is unique (and even more elevated than Shabbat eve), the Kabbalistic tradition teaches to immerse in the mikveh on Shabbat morning, before prayers, as well.

Kabbalat Shabbat in the fields, facing West:

Before sunset on Friday afternoon, the time of receiving (in Hebrew, "Kabbalat") the Shabbat, is unique for Creation. Spiritual worlds begin their ascent. Masculine and feminine archetypes unite. Kabbalistic tradition encourages us to align ourselves with these cosmic mystical phenomena and consequently initiated a few unique practices for Kabbalat Shabbat to help.

For one, the Holy Ari teaches that is it best to go to the fields after the Friday afternoon service to welcome the Shabbat. This is based on the mystical concept that the holiness of Shabbat has the power to elevate elements of the Creation beyond the inherently holy. In the same way that it is a mitzvah to enjoy food and drink on Shabbat, thus utilizing the power of the Shabbat to sanctify those aspects of physicality, so too can we leave the security of our towns - i.e. "civilization", a placed "settled" by the forces of order and harmony (hopefully!) – to experience and draw holiness without. Note that it is not the wilderness that we go to, but the "fields", an intermediate realm between the city and the wild.

In addition, it is customary that the entire congregation turn to face West during Kabbalat Shabbat, or at least when pronouncing "Come My Bride, Come My Bride…" ("Bo’ee Kallah, bo’ee Kallah"). The mystical origin of this tradition stems from the Kabbalistic understanding that during the weekdays, the mystical masculine and feminine forces (Ze’ir Anpin and Nukva) of Creation are positioned "back-to-back", meaning lacking full face-to-face union; the Kabbalah explains that at those times, in a sense, the masculine is to the East, facing East, and the feminine - the Divine Presence, or "Shechina" – is in the West, facing West. As Shabbat approaches, we, this time in the role of the masculine (Ze’ir Anpin), turn West to greet the feminine archetype of the Divine Presence as she turns to face "us", resulting in a cosmic union of spiritual forces, with which we are now aligned.

Today, few communities actually leave the synagogue and go the fields, but some will go outside to a courtyard, also fitting. It is almost universally accepted that the congregation turns to the back of the synagogue to face West at the climax of the Kabbalat Shabbat service; while this is appropriate for all most communities outside of Israel, (whose synagogues face East), some make the mistake of turning to the back of the synagogue even when that is not in a Westerly direction, as in communities to the north or south of Jerusalem in Israel, or in the southern hemisphere.

Wearing White Shabbat Garments

The Holy Ari, certainly the greatest Kabbalist of the last millennium, was very particular in insisting that we wear only (or mostly) white Shabbat clothes. In fact, the Writings of the Holy Ari, relate a story of a soul who returned from the dead to report the severe punishment he received for wearing black, the color of mourning and exile, on the holy Shabbat. The Holy Ari instructed that at least one’s four primary Shabbat garments should be white, as in the winter months, when laundry is/was more difficult.

In the past, many entire communities, particularly those of Sephardic Kabbalists and Chassidim (mainly disciples of the Seer of Lublin) would wear only white on Shabbat. Today, some still do, or,and some of those who for reasons of modesty wear black (i.e. colorless), at least dress in very dark blue suits on Shabbat to avoid the Holy Ari’s critical view on wearing black.

Twelve Shabbat Challahs

As recorded in the Writings of the Holy Ari, both the number, as well as arrangement, of the Shabbat challahs (loaves of bread), is stipulated by Kabbalistic tradition. Many of our rituals, whether in prayer or otherwise, are related to the divine service once observed in the holy Temple, to repair spiritual damage within Creation. The Shabbat challahs correspond to the 12 unique loaves of holy bread which were carefully stacked upon the Table in the Holy Temple every Friday afternoon.

The Holy Ari instructs us to arrange our Shabbat challahs in a special way and provides a simple meditation for it, as well. The challahs are to be stacked in six stack of two, like this:

In the meditation, one should image that each of the twelve loaves corresponds to one of the letters three times the Tetragrammaton. The letters hei are always on the bottom, and the letters yud and vav are always on top, like this:

When saying the blessing, the loaves corresponding to the letters yud and vav in the center columns are held, and the hands holding them become letter hei’s, thus creating another meditative unification of G‑d’s Name.

The loaves in the Holy Temple are known as the Showbreads and were arraigned in two stacks of six loaves each. Beneath each of the upper 4 loaves were 3 supporting rods each, and under the fifth there were two. One Kabbalistic meditation is based on imagining how those rods parallel the sections of our fingers (two for each thumb and three for each of the rest) as we hold the two main challahs during the blessing on bread, "HaMotzei".

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